Aug 21 2008
How many houses do you own?
How to relate to us ordinary Americans:
A housing issue: McCain not sure how many they own
The McCainsWASHINGTON -- Days after he cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year, Republican presidential candidate John McCain acknowledged that he wasn’t sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.
“I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” McCain responded to a question posed by Politico, according to a story Thursday on the publication’s Web site. “It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.”
Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states — Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama used the remark to jab at McCain for his views on the U.S. economy. Campaigning in Chester, Va., Obama told voters, “I guess if you think being rich means you’ve got to make $5 million and if you don’t know how many houses you have, it’s not surprising you might think the economy is fundamentally strong.”[..]
In a forum last week with the Rev. Rick Warren, McCain was asked to define the word “rich” and to give a figure. After promoting his tax policies, McCain said: “I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?” The audience laughed, and he added: “But seriously, I don’t think you can — I don’t think seriously that — the point is that I’m trying to make here, seriously — and I’m sure that comment will be distorted — but the point is that we want to keep people’s taxes low and increase revenues.”
Obama, asked the same question at the forum, said those making $250,000 and higher are in the top 3 to 4 percent and “doing well.” Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported making $4.2 million in 2007.
According to Johnny McCain, Barack and Michelle Obama are middle class. Where do you fall on the McCain Scale?
Update: Watch this. The houses, the extramarital affairs, the $520 shoes… put all that aside for the moment. Ask yourself: Do you really want a man who can look you in the eye and say “I lied” and then laugh about it to be the next president of your country? Have the past eight years taught us nothing?
Update #2: The response to all this from the McCain campaign is pretty lame, if not downright hilarious…
“We’re delighted to have a real estate debate with Barack Obama,” said spokesman Brian Rogers, adding that the press should focus on Obama’s house. “It’s a frickin’ mansion. He doesn’t tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon.”
The felon reference was to Tony Rezko, a former Obama friend and financial backer who was convicted on fraud and bribery charges this year. Rogers vowed to intensify efforts to link Obama to Rezko in the coming days.
“That’s fair game now,” he said. “You are going to see more of that now that this issue has been joined. You’ll see more of the Rezko matter from us.”
The McCain campaign was in full damage-control mode as the housing story took off today. Rogers tried to play down the story, saying that reports of the many McCain houses were overstated.
“The reality is they have some investment properties and stuff. It’s not as if he lives in ten houses. That’s just not the case,” Rogers said. “The reality is they have four that actually could be considered houses they could use.”
Okay, so Elitist Johnny and his wealthy elitist wife own ten houses, they only live in four of them! That’ll go over good with all the “regular” people in this country struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments on their one house.
Senator Obama owns one house. It’s the house he lives in.
Oh, and by the way, did you know that Johnny McCain was a prisoner of war? Seems he only lived in one house back then.
He also added: “This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years — in prison,” referring to the prisoner of war camp that McCain was in during the Vietnam War.
Then this dude Brian Rogers calls Senator Obama an “arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type.” Keep it classy, dude.
Update #3: The very definition of desperation.
Patio off master bedroom of one of the McCain parade of homes
(Click here to view entire slideshow.)
Update #4: O.M.G. This is hilarious. Here’s how John at Power Line Blog interprets the situation in which Johnny McCain now finds himself mired:
The truth is that McCain isn’t out of touch with “ordinary people” because he’s rich, he’s out of touch with his own domestic arrangements because he cares little about material things [$520 Ferragamo loafers], and for many years has devoted his extraordinary energies not to enjoying his wife’s money, but to serving the American people.
Remember that John the Power Line Blogger is the same person who wrote this about George W. Bush:
It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can’t get anyone to notice. He is like a great painter or musician who is ahead of his time, and who unveils one masterpiece after another to a reception that, when not bored, is hostile.
And they have the audacity to call Senator Obama “The Messiah!” Next thing you know they’ll have old Johnny out there walking across Lake Superior.
And, and, and… John the Blogger said:
I can relate, though. For example, if a reporter asked me how many ties I own, there’s no way I could answer. Just like McCain, I’d tell him he has to ask my wife. Likewise if someone wants to know how many Wii games my kids have.
So Johnny McCain not knowing how many homes he owns is just like John the Blogger not knowing how many ties he owns (I doubt his wife knows, either) (and why would a reporter give a damn?) or how many Wii games his kids have (probably a lot). Homes and ties and Wii games. I’m telling you, folks… it just doesn’t get much better than this!
Update #5: This just gets funnier and funnier and funnier…
At some point, I am going to have to cut this post off. But, dang it all, they just keep “bringing it on.” Tell the truth, now… wasn’t that last video the most fun you’ve had all week? (Next to Johnny forgetting how many homes he and Cindy own, of course.)
17 Responses to “How many houses do you own?”
Are you sure Obama wants to start talking about houses?
Tony Rezko wasn’t involved in helping the McCains buy any of theirs.
None of McCain’s houses were financed with a “friend of Angelo” mortgage from Countrywide.
This is the ultimate non-story.
Hey Len! I’m gonna have to agree with Chris on this one. This is a fight you guys don’t want to pick. We got you with Rezko, and the fact that the combined value of all McCain’s houses don’t equal the value of ONE of John Kerry’s (remember him?hehehe) houses.
I get tickled reading about how you guys are grasping at straws.
It may be the “ultimate non-story” to you guys, but, believe me, it isn’t to a lot of people. There are a lot of people struggling right now and hearing Johnny McCain joke about how being rich means you are making $5,000,000 per year and then admitting that he has no idea how many houses he owns does not help. Sure, you’re Republicans and you want to rationalize it and shift the blame however you can… I understand that… but this one is going to hit people where they live (pun intended).
James, yes, I remember John Kerry (hehehe). John Kerry knew how many houses he owned.
Len. I thought we were friends. Did you really just call me a republican? I hate the republicans almost as much as I hate the democrats! They’re crazy, too! Just not as crazy, imho.
And, I doubt John Kerry knows how many toes he has, much less houses.
@Chris :
It seems that he does. Check this out.
@James : Sorry if I offended. I do apologize.
John Kerry definitely was not my first choice as the Democratic nominee in 2004. I cannot believe you are putting me in the position of defending him. What has he to do with the topic of this post? At any rate, I think you’ll find that John Kerry is a lot smarter than you seem to believe. I am pretty sure he knows how many toes he has and how many houses he owns. We Democrats are funny that way… we like to keep track of little details like toes and houses.
P.S. Why is everything on your site anti-Obama? Why is there nothing anti-McCain? You call that being fair and balanced? Who do you work for, Fox News??
Len, I’m with you on this one. The republicans have been trying to paint Obama as an “elitist” when there couldn’t possibly be anything more elitist than not knowing how many homes you own. I can see not knowing how many items of silverware you own, or how many CD’s, but these are fucking HOMES! As somebody struggling just to rent a crappy apartment in this economy, that is an incredible insult.
And of course these guys want to bring up John Kerry. It’s the classic right wing irrelevant argument, much like their response to just about any given evil thing that Bush managed to get away with by saying “but Bill Clinton got his dick sucked in the oval office.” Why do they immediately go toward the irrelevant? Because they’ve got nothing else.
So a guy who just made $4 million last year, just got back from a Hawaiian vacation on a private beach, and bought his own mansion with help from a convicted felon really wants to start talking about John McCain’ houses? Bring it on!
You gotta remember too that Obama’s former go-to guy on veeps was none other than Jim Johnson, the Chairman of Fannie Mae and a prime orchestrator of the subprime mortgage crisis.
When it comes to housing fiascoes, Obama leads McCain by a country mile.
@Chris: That’s all very interesting (and a good attempt at changing the subject), but the fact remains that Senator Obama knows how many houses he owns.
@Len : Technically McCain doesn’t “own” any of them, but his rich wife does.
As you just admitted though, the reason for this attack on McCain isn’t so much because of the number of houses, but pointing out that he can’t remember how many he has, alluding to his age to make him look like a forgetful old man.
As for the bigger picture, the Obama campaign has been lackluster in the polls as of late and is finally starting to wake up to counterattack. He’ll get a small bump from the convention, but the media attention will be turned towards the GOP (or at least should) the following week perhaps eliminating any advantage.
@Anthony Fuller : I don’t think the allusion was to his age (although that is a very good point) as much as it was to his elitism. His campaign, patterned after the campaigns of George W. Bush (after all, the same people who ran Bush’s campaigns are now running McCain’s), wants to portray him as “one of the regular folks… the kind of guy you would want to go have a beer with.” They want to portray Obama as the elitist, just like they did Kerry in 2004, despite the fact that both Bush and Cheney were (and are) multi-multi-millionaires. The revelation that Johnny owns so many homes that he is unable to remember the number shows that he is the elitist in this campaign. That really hurts to McCainiacs, and they are going to be going all out to combat it, even if it means getting deeper into the mud than they already are.
So this is a class warfare thing? McCain owns 7 houses so he’s not “one of us”? Or, he has so many houses he can’t remember them all in the middle of a campaign stop?
I bet if somebody asked Jay Leno how many cars he has he would have to stop and think for a minute. So what? He’s a collector and he restores old cars and he keeps them all over the place. I’d still like to have a beer with him.
I don’t get why this matters. I know people who own multiple houses. They’re nice people. I know people who own one house; they’re nice people too. And I know people who rent apartments, again they’re nice people. (Don’t get me wrong; I know some shady characters too, but we’re not going to talk about my family…..<grin>)
I’d also be willing to bet (if asked prior to this week) Ted Kennedy couldn’t immediately count how many houses his family owns either. Again though, so what?
Our politicians are elitists; all of them. That’s why they’re the ruling class and we’re not. We don’t elect “just plain folks” to national office.
Both campaigns need to talk about issues. All this gotcha crap is tiresome.
@Chris :
I could not possibly agree more. Now, would you please communicate that sentiment to Karl Rove, Rick Davis and the rest of the maniacs running the McCain campaign?
Senator McCain promised a respectful campaign based on the issues. Whatever happened to that? (Please don’t tell me the Obama campaign started it. You and I both know better.)
And I’ll bet you that Ted Kennedy knows exactly how many homes his family owns. Jay Leno also knows exactly how many cars he owns.
I don’t, either. It seems to, though.
Does it really matter? Do we choose our presidents based on how many houses they own? Or the color of the skin or their gender? Our president should be chosen based on interity and character.I believe the question should be ‘what can he/she do for the country?”.I don’t really care how many houses Mc caine or Obama has what I want to know is where will America be ten years from now if anyone of them are elected. Will we be better or worse?
I agree with zjojor. That’s why I’m voting for Jennie Finch.
“McCain acknowledged that he wasn’t sure how many houses he and his wealthy wife actually own.” … Most people even struggle to pay their room rental.
wow…a nice obama bashing site…but wake guys..vote jonny in and when he is asked how many wars we are in and he cant remember…then youll know what time it is…disgraceful.